What the new Sky Sports TV deal means for Bristol City, Bristol Rovers and their EFL rivals

Bristol City and Bristol Rovers will see at least 20 of their matches televised on Sky Sports next season as part of the broadcaster's bumper new rights deal with the EFL.

Over 1,000 EFL matches across the three divisions as well as the Carabao Cup and Bristol Street Motors Trophy will be broadcast on Sky Sports, four times the current amount with a pledge to show each Championship outfit at least 24 times and every League One and League Two side on at least 20 occasions. That includes the EFL cup competitions as well as the leagues in which clubs play in.

Previously, Sky were obligated to show all 24 Championship clubs at least 12 times each on TV while there was no requirement to show the 48 other clubs in League One and League Two.

Additionally, this new deal will see every match that falls outside of Article 48, more commonly known as the blackout, broadcast. That includes all midweek matches as well as games played across the opening and final weekends and on bank holidays.

Alongside league matches, Sky will televise every game played in the Carabao Cup and Bristol Street Motors Trophy which means that, based on last season's schedule, all 72 teams will have their first two matches of the campaign broadcast as the first league game is usually followed by the first round tie of the Carabao Cup.

The way in which the opening weekend will work is that on the Friday night (August 9), two Championship matches will be shown alongside one from both League One and League Two while on the Saturday (August 10) eight second tier games and the remaining 11 fixtures from the third and fourth divisions will be televised. Then, on Sunday August 11 the final two Championship clashes will be broadcast.

However, each division will have a set kick-off time on the Saturday between 12:30pm, 3pm and 5:30 with the allocation yet to be decided. This means that if both City and Rovers' opening matches were picked for Saturday August 10, the two Bristol clubs would be kicking off at different times.

As part of the new deal, Sky are also committing to giving match going supporters more notice regarding changes in kick-off times with every game selected up to September expected to be confirmed in early July before all matches picked from then up until FA Cup third round weekend, which tends to fall in early January, will be announced soon after. The current plan will also see all matches up until March picked by November with the rest of the season picked more traditionally in line with the narratives that emerge by that point.

The EFL will release fixtures for the 2024/25 season on Wednesday June 26 and once each clubs receive their respective calendars the process of knowing what the television schedule will look like for the first handful of months of the campaign.

To make all of this possible, Sky will be launching a new platform called 'Sky Sports+' in August at no extra cost to Sky Sports subscribers. This new service will provide the capability to show up to 100 events concurrently and will be integrated into Sky TV, NOW TV and the new Sky Sports mobile app.

Jonathan Licht, Managing Director at Sky Sports, said: “Exceptional sport, covered in an innovative and compelling way, has been a big part of our history. With the introduction of Sky Sports+, we are now able to offer sport fans more choice and an even better experience when watching the live action, at no extra cost.

“For the first time, we will broadcast every game live from across the EFL on the opening weekend. It’s going to be a huge moment for football fans up and down the country and is a fitting way to kick off our ground-breaking new partnership with the EFL. And this is just the beginning; Sky Sports+ unlocks the potential for us to keep evolving and finding new ways to deliver brilliant sport to our customers.”

Regarding both Bristol clubs, this will represent notable change for both but, as a Championship club, City had to be televised at least 12 times on Sky Sports as part of the previous deal whereas Rovers weren't shown on TV at all.

In fact, only 20 of the 48 clubs making up the third and fourth tiers had at least one game shown on Sky Sports, meaning that these new rights will be a particularly significant alteration from the previous terms for League One and League Two clubs. Those 48 clubs, including Rovers, also compete in Bristol Street Motors Trophy, unlike City.

The new deal is valued at a total of £935million over five years, running until the end of the 2028/29 campaign and representing a 50 per cent increase in rights fees compared to the previous agreement.

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